Bengaluru: India last year saw a 156% rise in the number of scams via social media where users interact with malicious content shared by those on their networks.

One in six scams affected Indians, making India the second most targeted country for such scams, according to a report by the Internet Security Threat Report released by software security firm Symantec Corp.

The global report was released on 12 April and the India-specific findings were announced at a press conference in Bengaluru on Thursday. India was also the third largest hub for malware activity after China and the US.

Indian businesses were also the sixth most targeted in Asia, with organisations in the mining industry being the most risk-prone—almost one in two organisations were attacked—while public utilities and financial sector organisations are likely to be targeted repeatedly, said the report.

The most number of attacks, globally as well as in India, happened on November, with India recording 2.5 attacks each day in the month.